Concert Review: Smashing Pumpkins at Midland Theatre, Night Two

KANSAS CITY – NOVEMBER 25, 2008

Two decades after forming, the Smashing Pumpkins are still transcending grunge and alternative rock. Problem is, those genres no longer exist. Grunge has given way to post-grunge, which is growing too stale for even modern-rock radio. Alternative is now indie, found in dorm rooms and Volkswagen commercials nationwide. In the ’90s, the Smashing Pumpkins sold more albums than God. Only a few devoted followers, however, bought 2007’s Zeitgeist. Billy Corgan, the Pumpkins hairless leader, clearly appreciates his most loyal fans, but he has a vendetta against the corrosive forces disfiguring the music industry.

It’s Billy Corgan’s world. You’re just paying 50 bucks to spend three hours in it. With such a consuming message, a reunion tour can sound an awful lot like a manifesto. It can be hard for Ahab to rock out when he was chasing that damn white whale.

Click on photo for slide show.